Dealings of Devils
by Sid89
Summary: With a financial crisis imminent, Chi-chi has no choice, but to ask Gohan to seek employment. Fired from several jobs with little hope, an old friend comes by for a visit, with a job offer Son can't refuse! He is thrown into the world of the relatively unknown. Corruption, betrayal, and talks of war are unsettling, but he is determined to bring peace to this world, and beyond!
1. Chapter 1

**The Dealings of Devils**

**Ch. 1**

The morning rays were just beginning to descend over the land beyond the mountains. The plains shone brightly of dew in the early morning light. As warmth once again blanketed the plains, the nocturnal creatures retreated to their domains' to slumber the day away. The local fauna gingerly awoke to begin their usual routines, like seeking food and nurturing their young. The aquatic life swam briskly along the vast amount of rivers and lakes residing in the large expanse of nature.

Pterodactyls soared majestically through the sky, swooping down in steep slopes to race across the mountain surfaces. A lone tyrannosaurus, was stomping along the river's edge in search of an early morning snack to begin the day. Small packs of wolves were scouring the wild forest in search of defenseless stragglers amongst the deer. This was all centered around one particular area of the mountain ranges in the Eastern District, and didn't even cover a fraction of the wildlife found there.

One would be hard pressed to find another place on the planet that was home to such a wide variety of species such as this. Including all of the wildlife to inhabit the area, there was also a little humble abode in the center of it all. Thick white reinforced plaster walls shaped up to form a dome reaching about 20 feet off the ground, topped off with a fairly small chimney. A twin set of windows and a small wooden door faced the plains, and finally there was a very small yellow garage built on the far end of the household. A few small signs of chipped edges and missing paint showed that the structures had weathered the elements of nature for many years now.

Gentle humming could be heard from out of the open window, as a petite middle-aged woman worked diligently at the task before her. She wore a yellow traditional Chinese dress with red trim on top of a long-sleeved white shirt of a very light material. Her purple belt wrapped around her fit figure snugly, and held her dress and white pants securely. She sighed as she scrubbed vigorously at the grime on the defiant china. A few stray strands of raven-colored hair arched out of the tight bun she had wrapped them into. Her small violet neckerchief was slowly becoming soaked by the froth coming from the warm soapy water she was currently utilizing. Although she was nearing 34 years of age, her appearance had most assuming she was in her mid-20's.

Son Chi-chi was a proud mother of 2 young boys. One being a very strong and intelligent young man, if not a bit naïve at times, and the other a tiny bundle of energy at the young age of 4 and a half. Her oldest son wasn't too much trouble, only having caused about 1,000 Zeni worth of damage over the past year, but her youngest was another story entirely. Had somebody told her 20 years ago that her son would be throwing entire picnic tables down into the nearby lake she would have told her father and requested they be admitted in the kingdom's mental institute. Yet as she looked out the window down into the lake, she could barely make out the rotting wood sticking up out of the water's edge.

Her youngest son was becoming quite an expensive individual. She shook her head trying to will away the headache that her current financial distress had caused her. Along with the repairs to the home she had to include into her mental calculations, she needed to add in how much it cost to provide for her loving children. That cost far outclassed the cost of repairs and replacement furniture. Chi-chi massaged her temples soothingly as another headache began to come over her.

With the last dish cleaned and shining as if it were new, she dried her hands and went to the adjoining counter and stove-top to fetch the steaming plates full of sausage, bacon, and pancakes. Setting the dishes on the large kitchen table, she strode her way down the hardwood flooring to the end of the stairwell, being sure to stand well out of the way of the stairs. Chi-chi cupped her mouth with both hands and drew in a large breath of air.

"Gohan! Rise and shine! Wake your brother, wash yourselves, and come down for breakfast!"

No sooner had her echos stopped reverberating off the walls, did she her a loud thud as her eldest son's head undoubtedly hit the floor of his bedroom. A couple minutes later, consisting of small scuffling sounds upstairs and running water, did her two boys come clambering down the stairway in a mad dash for the kitchen. Chi-chi shook her head and rolled her eyes as she followed her children into the rather large kitchen. As she sat down at her end of the table where her portion of the meal was set aside, the kids were shoveling large masses of food down their throats at alarming rates.

Well they would be alarming to anyone else, but said family and a very select few others consisting of their friends. Yes Chi-chi had the odd misfortune of falling in love with, and marrying a person of another species entirely. Out of this world. Literally. She had always known her Goku was special, but she had never even imagined the thought that he wasn't human. OK, so maybe the first couple of times watching him eat were the exceptions to that, but he was very human in appearance. Aside from a tail and unbelievable feats of strength, and the very odd way his hair just stuck out haphazardly in every direction, and the tail...

Chi-chi was lost in her thoughts and didn't even hear her son's voice at first. Goten was too busy trying to shove his face into his dish to notice this move. Gohan walked up to her side of the table and waved his hand in front of his mother's face.

"Yo, Earth to Mom! Are you in there?"

She jumped a little as she came back to reality from her musings to see her son's hand waving slowly in front of her eyes.

"Get your hand out of my face young man! I taught you better than to harass your own mother like that!"

Gohan rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. Goten jumped up at hearing his mother scolding his older brother and tried vainly to sink further down into his chair. Gohan backed away to an acceptable distance and stood beside her.

"Sorry Mom. I tried to ask you if I could get some light training in this morning, but you weren't responding. When I looked over I saw you staring a hole right through Goten, so I thought I'd bring you back to this world."

Chi-chi smiled softly at her son with pride. He was always so carefree, yet was as polite as possible when in her presence. He really was becoming more like an adult each passing day. He was growing much taller too. At the age of 14 he was well on his way to approaching the 6 foot mark. He was wearing his favorite training clothing consisting of his purple gi top and pants, and the red belt that tied it all together was matching height with her head while sitting down at the table. He had started to crop his hair down years ago, leaving it with only a few spikes remaining on top and the lone stubborn one that crossed down over his face. He was becoming a very handsome young man quickly, and she was certain he would be swatting girls away in only a few short years.

"Mom, what's up? You're zoning out again. Is something wrong?"

Chi-chi sat up and walked over to the counter to clear her plate. She returned to the table to start taking up the other dishes as well. Letting out a long drawn out sigh, she relented her frustrations to him.

"Gohan I had wanted you to start attending high school this year, but with our financial situation constantly getting worse I have no choice, but to ask you to start looking for work. Feeding two half-Saiyans is becoming too expensive for me, and Goten isn't making it any easier when I'm spending a lot of the money for repairs and not to mention all the bills I have to pay, the clothes he ruins, the furniture I have to replace, the toys-"

Gohan cut his mother's rambling off and hugged her gently.

"It's OK Mom. I know that you're stressed right now, but I promise I'll get a job and help support you in any way I can. I'm sure Bulma would be happy to lend me a hand as well. She would even lend you some money so we wouldn't starve or lose power, or anything like that, so don't wor-"

Chi-chi shook her head violently.

"I could never ask Bulma for money. I know she'd have no problem with it, and it wouldn't even begin to scrape at the surface of the wealth she has, but I refuse to rely on my friend's success to raise you and your brother on. You can go ahead and ask her to help, as I'm sure she'd be a great reference to have when applying for work. As to answer your earlier question, yes I have no problem with you getting some training in this morning, but only after you help me clean the dishes and put them away."

Chi-chi took a moment to glance at the youngest Son in the household, and noticed his face covered in a fine sheen of sticky brown goodness with a lopsided grin on his face.

"And clean your brother up for me as well would you dear?"

Gohan craned his head around to look at his brother and couldn't help, but chuckle at the kid with a smug look of victory on his face. One fist raised toward the ceiling the other rubbing his tummy in quick circles.

"I got the S'rup!"

Gohan walked down the table over to his little brother and picked him up from the straps of his blue suspenders. He held him at arms length and laughed as the young demi-Saiyan struggled to get free. He turned so he was facing his mother again.

"You sure did squirt, and you managed to get it all over your hands and face in the process. If you don't mind Mom, I'm gonna take him to the bathroom and get him cleaned up first. After that I'll come back and finish the rest of the dishes while you have some time to yourself."

Chi-chi smiled and nodded happily.

"That sounds wonderful Gohan! Thank you so much. Try not to let him ruin your clothes as well. That syrup is all over him. Honestly Goten, I thought I told you to behave yourself in the kitchen!"

Goten squirmed around more in Gohan's hold as he tried to face away from his mother and hide.

"I din' do it!"

Gohan chuckled and carried him out of the kitchen and up the stairs, all the while Goten protesting and fighting his grasp to no end.

**DoD**

* * *

After a large struggle for both of them, Gohan had managed to scrub his younger brother clean and throw on some fresh clothes for him to wear. After making sure his brother's pants were buttoned and zipped, he playfully tossed the Goku clone out of the room and onto his own bed in their shared room. Their bathroom was directly across the hall on the top floor. The guest bathroom was downstairs passed the stairway and next to the living room, and was absolutely off limits for the youngest one there. Gohan didn't mind if Goten messed up his bedding, but he feared for his brother's well being if their mother caught him in the act. Leaving his brother to his own devices he made his way down to the kitchen only to see his mother had finished with the chore and had relocated to the living room. Gohan approached the small rocking chair and stood next to his mother.

"Sorry I didn't help you with the dishes Mom. Goten wasn't cooperating, as usual, and it took longer than I thought it would to get him into some clean clothes. I can make it up to you by handling the laundry later if you'd like."

Chi-chi chuckled and looked away from the television broadcast.

"Oh, no it's fine. I figured your brother would cause you some trouble and it would seem I was right. Besides you helped me out a great deal by cleaning up your brother for me. Remember the last time I tried giving him a bath down here?"

Gohan grimaced and thought back to that evening. Goten had been rolling around in the mud, after a storm lasting a full week passed over the mountains and plains. He had been covered head to toe in sludge, and had gotten quite a bit of it on the floors and the walls as he made his way back inside, while their mother was in the other room.

When his mother had walked out of the living room and noticed a muddy trail of footprints leading inside the kitchen, all Hell had broken loose. After a full hour of ranting and raving, and even some cursing, she had somehow cleaned Goten all up, but the downstairs bathroom could not be recognized for what it once was. From that day forward, it was now Gohan's responsibility as an older brother, and the only other half-Saiyan in the house, to clean his brother.

_'And to think I'm not even mad about the extra work put on my shoulders. All I can remember is the state she was in once it was finally over. She had sores all over her arms, and her hands were rubbed raw. Poor Mother.'_

"Well from the look on your face, I can tell you remember quite well!"

Chi-chi's laugh was drowned out by the loud cheering coming from the television. Curiosity piqued, both mother and son stared at the fairly large-sized device sitting at the end of the room. Gohan picked the remote off the coffee table and turned it down a bit.

"He has done it! Ladies and gentleman, our hero has managed to reach victory yet again, as he has just become for the 2nd year in a row, CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!"

Gohan and Chi-chi stared blankly at each other, then turned their head back towards the screen. A mass of black hair in an overly large afro panned into the top right of the television, and the load roaring laughter took over for the audio of what was now a still image of the World Martial Arts Tournament. Still zooming out further it revealed a man wearing a brown gi with white pants, sitting in a large luxurious chair adorned with intricate golden designs in the red fabric.

A young girl about Gohan's age stood next to the man with her arms crossed in front of her. The girl was quite short when compared to him, and looked as if she wanted to be any other place, but there. She had black hair that was pulled into two ponytails to both sides of her head by twin yellow bands. She wore a large white t-shirt on top of tight blue jeans. Her sapphire eyes were piercing the camera lens as it zoomed out from them.

It took them both only a moment to realize who they were watching on TV. Gohan would recognize that scruffy face and cocky attitude anywhere. Chi-chi rolled her eyes at his annoying laughter, but the girl intrigued her, so in unspoken agreement they continued watching the show.

"Now Mr. Satan, that was one heck of a performance if I do say so myself, and I've made it a personal goal to watch all of your fights since you first joined the circuit. How did you manage to bring home the gold yet again that day?"

Once again Hercule's laugh erupted from his throat. He eyed the person sitting across from him dressed in a blue business suit, as he leaned back in to his chair comfortably.

"Well it was a piece of cake really. My final opponent was nothing, but a muscle bound behemoth! He was very poorly coordinated with his attacks and he only managed to face me by overpowering the other fighters! Why in a couple years, I'll bet Videl could face him with the same amount of ease! Spopovich was a cream puff and an amateur-class fighter at best! The other fighters had some skill. I would have preferred to fight Killa in the end, but his opponent wore him down enough for Spopovich to have an advantage."

Gohan rolled his eyes again as he listened to the 'champ,' drone on and on about how great he was. He could be entertaining, but he could also be the most self absorbed son of a bitch Gohan could think of, rivaling that of Vegeta's smugness. The name Videl was new to his knowledge. He decided to watch a little more as he was somewhat glued to it.

"Well yes of course. That fight 3 years ago was pretty one sided. You managed to knock him out in under 2 minutes if I remember correctly. Now there has been a lot of talk about the tournament coming up two years from now. Some people are saying you would have quite a challenge if the previous defending champ were to go toe to toe with you in the finals. Your thoughts?"

Hercule's face took on quite a comical look, as he had a big stupid grin on his face trying not to laugh. Gohan had a feeling he wasn't liking where this was going. He didn't know who they were talking about, but he had a feeling in his gut that told him to kiss his mother on the cheek and go train. He didn't listen to the gut feeling.

"I guess you're talking about the 23rd Tournament winner, Son Goku. What a laugh! He conned his way through his previous tournaments, and came out on top of the last one! It's a real shame when amateurs like him enter the ring to face real fighters! All he did was some fancy light tricks and smokescreens to deceive his opponents into submission. I'll bet the guy never had a real fight in his life! I don't see how a guy like that can even-"

**CRASH**

Gohan looked down into his hand where the remote once was and to his mother's outstretched hand. While following the direction of her arm, he noticed the remote embedded into the glass surface of their now broken television. He changed his view when he heard his mother's faint growling. Letting out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding, he backed away from his mother's fuming form. The tiny wooden chair shook with fury as the little woman's body was vibrating from the anger taking over her.

_'Man, if I didn't know better, Mom could pass off as being a Saiyan.'_

"Gohan!"

Letting out a small yelp, Gohan quickly hurried over to his mother's side once more. Not liking where this was heading, he stared between the cracks of the floorboards. Eye contact with a furious Son Chi-chi could be fatal. She had stood up from the chair and started to tap her foot impatiently. Gohan gulped as he slowly raised his head to meet her eyes.

"Why in the world do you let him say those things about your own father!? I want you to fly me to that idiot's lair right this instant! I need to teach him a lesson, if you aren't willing to do so! I'll rip his giant black afro right off his head and shove it down his throat! I'll kick him in the crotch so hard, his balls will fly out of his mouth! I'll-"

While having his mother beat on his chest with her fists was amusing, it was also kind of pathetic. Gohan sighed and pushed his mother away to arms length. He noticed her indignant look before he went on to explain himself.

"Mom, what would you have me do? Go pound Mr. Satan into a pulp, in the middle of the city? The guy is a chump, and isn't worth our frustration. I'm sure he'll get his comeuppance in due time. Besides, you're always telling me violence solves nothing. Are you saying that it's OK for me to exhibit random acts of violence, and traumatize the entire populace in the process?"

Chi-chi drew a large breath of air before hollering with enough force that Gohan felt a decent wind rush passed him.

"I DON'T CARE! GO KICK HIS ASS! YES, BEAT HIM UP IN PUBLIC! TIE HIM UPSIDE DOWN TO A TREE BRANCH, AND USE HIM LIKE A PUNCHING BAG! I WILL NOT HAVE HIM SLANDERING MY DECEASED HUSBAND, WHILE HE REAPS ALL THE REWARDS FOR OUR FUCKING SACRIFICES!"

_'Checking, one two. Hello? Is this thing still on?'_

While Gohan tried to overcome his sudden ringing ears, Chi-chi noticed Goten had come down from the second floor. Seeing the size his eyes had enlarged to, made her realize what she had just shouted loud enough to send some forest critters scurrying in panic. Chi-chi quickly clamped her hands over her mouth and waited for her youngest son to speak. Goten did not fail to disappoint. Goten had an evil glint in his eyes that spelled trouble.

"Mommy said a naughty word, just like Gohan does all the time!"

Gohan's mouth dropped to the floor in an instant. He most certainly did **not **curse all the time! In fact Gohan made it a top priority to never say anything of the sort in front of Goten. The sweat from his neck, trailed down the back of his gi like a set of flowing rivers. After all he had done to keep his brother innocent, unlike him, the child was becoming like that of a demon. Chi-chi was beginning to imitate a cherry, as her face craned ever slowly towards her eldest.

"**Just. Go. Get. Me. A. New. Damn. Television.**"

Gohan was certain that if he weren't superhuman, he wouldn't have heard her at all. In fact, with her teeth clenched as tightly as they were, he was surprised he **had** heard it. Chi-chi's purse smacked him in the face, abruptly cutting off any response he had. Nodding numbly, he took some zeni from the purse, and set the article on the nearby coffee table. Chi-chi walked over to the child at the bottom of the stairwell, while Gohan closed the front door behind him. Picking up her son, she erected a mask to hide her true emotions. With a somewhat evil smile, she brought him to the living room.

"Now what are these naughty words that your brother uses all the time?"

A/N: Expect plenty more humor, action, drama, and plot as the story progresses. Gohan will run into some very old friends of Goku's from Dragonball.


	2. Chapter 2

**Dealings of Devils**

**Ch. 2**

"What the hell did I do to you Goten? What a bunch of crap!"

Gohan pouted as he soared high over the land, making his way to the nearest city to fulfill his mother's wishes. The traffic in the air was steadily becoming busier as he came nearer to the city limits. Gohan was flying lazily on his back, when he almost rammed straight into an incoming aerial vehicle, going well over the posted speed limit. Lazy to him, was about 300mph, so he barely avoided crashing through the tiny red air car by rapidly ascending. After the small vehicle passed below him, he righted himself to watch as it slowly became a small speck of red in the distance. Wiping his brow with his forearm, he decided that flying right side up would be a much safer option while traveling.

"And I thought Mom drove recklessly, sheesh!"

Continuing his flight, now more aware of his surroundings, he realized he was nearly right over the city limits. Gohan spotted a relatively abandoned nature trail near the entrance to the area, formerly known as Orange City. Descending too fast for average human eyes to take in, while on a slow motion video recording mind you, he picked out a fork in the trail that was currently unoccupied. Normally something moving that fast would create a disturbance around the isolated area, but Gohan was no amateur. With a feather light touch, his boot-clad feet met solid ground.

"Looks like the coast is clear. This place must not get much tourism."

After several minutes of walking at a steady pace, Gohan reached the entrance to the famous Satan City. His chest rumbled, as a low growl escaped from inside him. Sure he had said those things to placate his mother, but truth be told, he was absolutely furious at the things Hercule had said. Only after many years of highly devoted mental conditioning, had he been able to hide his emotions from his mother so well. Thinking about Goten's earlier admission, which was a fallacy, had distracted his thoughts of the Goku bashing scenario. With a deep frown on his face, he ventured into the busy streets of the large metropolis.

It was extremely noisy in the city, compared to the quiet country setting at home. The people were quite rude, as they bumped into the young teenager on numerous occasions, not even muttering a simple, "sorry," or "pardon me." He was also receiving a lot of strange looks from several passers-by. To be fair, he was dressed in his violet training gear. This particular set of clothing, was infused with a bit of magic thanks to his good friend and teacher, Piccolo. It didn't look like much at first glance, but it weighed about half a ton right now, and Gohan handled the burden with ease.

He was quite shocked when he was rewarded with a couple of catcalls by some random girls, looking to be about 3 years older than him, if he had to guess. They dressed rather provocatively for being only around 16, or 17. They wore skimpy shirts that ended just above their belly buttons, and their shorts were just a little longer than where he assumed somebody's under garments would end at. Gohan shrugged as he picked up his pace to get away from the laughing trio of females. This city was annoying him already, and he'd only been there for about 20 minutes.

After about 10 more minutes of walking down the crowded sidewalks, he found a rather large electronics store. Gohan thumbed through the wad of money he had taken from his mother's purse. He may have been a little greedy when he pilfered the larger bills from her, but he was planning on treating himself to some city cuisine. The people here couldn't really cook at the level his mother could, but they did offer some different types of food he couldn't taste at home. Besides, he was going to be bringing in some cash for the family soon, so he could always replace the amount and then some.

Declining to grab a cart, he strolled down the different aisles of the store in search of something suitable to replace their old television. He marveled at the sight of so much technology in front of him. He had always been a bit of a nerd, thanks to his mother's constant insistence that he study more, so browsing electronic equipment was nothing new to him. 15 minutes of poking and prodding a selection of different phones well out of his price range, he finally ventured further to the back of the store where all the large equipment was usually shelved.

A vast array of plasma televisions were all that awaited him. Some of them reached even greater heights, than he currently stood. Gohan frowned as he looked for a sales representative to flag down. He finally found one shelving some random assortment of video games inside a protective glass case. The middle aged man with shaggy brown hair failed to notice him, as the young half-Saiyan approached.

"Excuse me, but I'm looking for a new television to buy. All you guys seem to have are these large flat ones. I'm looking for an older model of a smaller size, about this big."

Gohan motioned with his arms to the size he wanted as the guy turned around with a big smile on his face.

"I'm sorry kid, but we quit selling those models years ago. They're not even manufactured anymore. You could probably find something like it at a thrift store around here. We have some smaller televisions around the size you are looking for at a reasonable price, but they are all flat-screens."

Gohan crossed his arms over his chest and looked down to the ground, with a defeated look on his face.

_'So much for fine dining. It would probably make Mom even more upset if I came home empty-handed. It couldn't hurt to try one of these newer models, and I even brought enough to purchase one thanks to the extra bills I snagged.'_

Gohan walked over to the shelves of different televisions. Putting his thumb and index finger to his chin, he began to peruse the different choices he had. Deciding on one that was just a bit larger than what he was originally looking for, the sales rep directed him over to the counter. Gohan pulled the cash from underneath his red sash. Paying the 27,000 zeni he hefted the item over his right shoulder and held it firmly with his arm.

"Alright. Good to go. I hope Mom doesn't get angry at me for getting this model, but I'm sure we could always return it and get our money back."

With a goofy smile on his face, Gohan exited the building and entered the busy street once more. Once again ignoring the odd looks he was receiving, he made his way down the crowded sidewalks back towards the nature trail he entered the city from. Gohan didn't travel farther than 3 blocks when he heard a commotion from behind him.

Several gunshots rang out, and he heard everyone in the vicinity, running and screaming for their lives. Wasting no time, he ducked into the nearest alley and stashed the newly acquired television behind an old pale dumpster.

'_If I go out there as I am now, I'll end up on the 6 o' clock news. I've been traversing this city too long in my fighting clothes, that if I transform, somebody might make a connection. Damn it, this sucks!_'

Deciding that saving lives took priority, Gohan clenched his fists and let out a fraction of the power he had contained. Small cracks lined the pavement beneath his feet as his power started to slowly carve out a path in the asphalt. Only a couple of seconds later, was he illuminated by a brilliant golden aura of pure energy. Zooming out of the alley, the gust of wind produced by his speed, accidentally knocked over a couple of the fleeing pedestrians.

He arrived in front of another shop that was just off the street. A jewelery store. There were several of Satan City's finest hiding behind their squad cars and they all had their pistols held out over the top of the vehicle. Inside, Gohan could spot at least five men dressed in dark shirts and army fatigues. Each man wore their own type of face covering. Three of them had their rifles aimed outside the building, towards the police. The other two men had their weapons pointed at the personnel behind the counter. One of them slammed a large duffle bag on the counter and thrust his pistol to the poor attendants head.

"Alright bitch, I'm not asking twice! Fill the damn bag, or I'll implode your head!"

The small blonde woman in the dark dress became compliant immediately, and started shoveling fine jewels and chains inside the carrier. The other man was dealing with his own victim in a similar manner. His face was concealed beneath a balaclava, and he held a blade to the older man's throat.

"Quit sniveling and tell me where it is! I know you have it old man, and if I don't hand it to my employer, my head will be on a pike by sundown! So QUIT JERKING ME AROUND!"

With a harsh backhand aimed for the poor man's face, the crook blinked in astonishment as he felt his knuckles hit a brick wall. Gohan's face had replaced the one the guy had originally been aiming for. He smirked in satisfaction as he felt the knuckles crack against his cheek. Not 2 seconds later did the thug jump back cradling his broken hand, while howling in pain. That act had caught the attention of everyone in the store.

"Ah shit, the boss! Light this fucker up!"

Gohan was instantly on the receiving end of a shower of bullets. While the attention had been set solely on him, he noticed the workers and civilians making a mad dash for the front double doors. With perfect timing, the last person got out safely, and the audible clicks of empty weapons filled the building. Gohan's smirk grew wider as he heard all the criminals begin to whimper.

"Kid's not human."

"His eyes man. Look at his fucking eyes!"

"Not even a scratch. Not even a fucking hole in his shirt!

"He's glowing man. He's freakin' glowing! I didn't sign up for this bullshit!"

Gohan approached them slowly. All fun and games aside, his scowl soon returned.

"I'm not saying this twice. Surrender to the authorities outside as civil as possible, or I drag you out myself."

Reluctantly, all the crones started to make their way to the front doors with both hands raised to the air. The leader was the only one to remain defiant. Gohan didn't bother stopping his attack, but was surprised at the results. As he allowed the blade to make contact, he didn't expect to feel a slight sting, as the tip pierced the purple cloth and then just grazed beneath his skin. A quick jump back from a wide eyed Gohan prevented the blade from sinking further through his flesh.

"I'm a dead man if I don't get what I came for! I'm not letting you stop me! I don't need the others!"

With another charge he aimed the knife straight for Gohan's heart. In a blind panic, Gohan began dodging the crazy man's attempts at stabbing him once more.

'_I don't get it. He's just a human that's weaker than Krillin. How the hell did he manage to harm me!?_'

Deciding he'd done enough dodging, he grabbed the assailant's wrist currently wielding the knife, and closed down on it. With a set of sickening cracks the knife fell to the carpet as blood dripped down to join with it. The blood-curdling scream from the thief made the crooks currently on their way out increase their pace. Gohan's scowl became more prominent as he stared down the sniveling mess.

"I warned you to not resist me. I don't like hurting people normally, but that weapon you had could have killed me. Now I know you noticed bullets don't even so much as leave a scratch on me, so how in the hell did that knife harm me!?"

Gohan watched as the guy cradled his crushed hand to his chest. He was obviously more focused on the pain. He decided to fix this by ripping off the man's ski mask and lifting him by the front of his shirt with one arm. The guy kicked his legs trying to break free.

"I asked you a question! Where did you get that knife!?"

The man finally quit trying to escape and glared at Gohan. Gohan's scowl faltered as he allowed his fangs to be visible. The man's glare fell instantly and sweat started dripping from his cropped black hair.

"Alright fine! I got it from someone who wanted me to do a job for him! We're a group of mercenaries that went awol from the military a couple years back. He used the proper channels to setup a contract with us. We were supposed to procure an item for this guy, and in return he would pay us each a boatload of cash! He informed us that this particular item would possibly be protected by otherworldly forces!"

Gohan's right brow raised slightly. This wasn't making any sense. Was somebody anticipating his arrival?

"And you believed him? What did this guy look like?"

The guy sputtered before he continued rambling. Still clutching his fractured wrist, he growled to the demi-saiyan.

"FUCK NO! I thought he was just messing with us. I drew my pistol on him and pressed it right against his forehead. I told him that if he wasn't here to make a legitimate job offer, than I'd blow his brains all over the tiles!"

His anger had reached a boiling point, but just as quickly faded away completely. He was now visibly shaking.

"Th-that thing grabbed the sides of my head. I didn't even see him move his arms. Next thing I know, I was seeing these weird visions in my head. Horrible things I can't even withstand. Dismembered bodies. Flames. Strange symbols that looked like an alien language. And I could smell sulfur. And then after all of that, I saw the inside of this store. I saw some sort of glass orb with stars on it. Then I heard his voice, and I was back in my headquarters."

Gohan growled once more and the man in his grip shook. Gohan lowered him to the floor, careful not to injure him further.

'_Damn it! Somebody is trying to collect the dragonballs. We've only had 3 years of peace now, and already somebody is trying to disturb it._'

"This object he showed you. Did he tell you what it was, or how he intended to use it?"

The man shook his head instantly. There were tears coming from his eyes now.

"He just said that was the item he wanted. He also told me the visions I saw previously were to be my punishment should I fail! He laid this odd knife on my desk and said it might come in handy. Then.-then he just fucking vanished! Into thin air! As for this thing's looks-I never got a look at him. He had his face hidden and was wearing an odd getup covered by a large cloak. I swear that's the truth!"

Gohan sighed and walked away from the sniveling mess. He hopped over the counter and walked into the back room and started searching through it. It didn't take him long to find an intricate looking safe. With a simple flick of his wrist, the lock snapped off and the safe's door swung open. Lo and behold, inside the safe resting on a red display cloth, was the 3 star dragonball. Gohan made his way back to the criminal and showed him the object.

"Is this what your client was after?"

The man confirmed with a brief nod. By that time, the authorities had finally made their way into the store. Gohan bent down to pick up the discarded knife as several officers surrounded him, brandishing their firearms. Obviously mistaking him for one of the criminals.

"Drop the weapon, or we will shoot! What the hell just happened in here!? Walt! Jenkins! Get that guy off the ground, and careful when you cuff him."

Gohan simply tucked the knife into his belt and crossed his arms. 2 men were attending to the injured criminal, while the rest had their guns pointed at the teen. Letting out a sigh, Gohan instantly flew through the window back into the alley he had left his television in. With the attention of half the city on the jewelry store, nobody noticed him lift into the air and blast away from the city.

* * *

It took some convincing for his mother to accept the new TV he purchased, but after a while she just groaned and told him to set it up. Thankfully, she never noticed the large tear in his clothing. After a few minutes of rearranging the living room ,their new plasma screen television was all hooked up and playing some cartoon for Goten. Gohan sighed in relief when he was able to skip right over the news channels to get to his little brother's station. Gohan sat down on the sofa next to him, but was suddenly reminded of the items pressing against his chest.

'_I forgot all about the dragonball! And this knife just grazed me again. Damn it!_'

His mother had opted to do some light reading in her room while Gohan would be off training. Gohan turned to his mother as she was heading for the stairs.

"Actually Mom, I'm going to head over to Bulma's for a while. I just remembered I had something I wanted to ask her. I'll be back by sundown."

Chi-chi eyed her son warily before shrugging her shoulders and started up the stairs.

"That's fine dear, but try to behave yourself. And for Goten's sake, start watching your language around him. You swear a lot more than you think you do, and I blame that green monster friend of yours and the almighty prince of 3 people. Also, I don't want Bulma calling me up because you and Vegeta broke something!"

Gohan gulped and nodded with a goofy grin on his face. His mother could be so frightening sometimes. Chi-chi walked up the steps and into her room, as Gohan walked out the front door. After closing the door behind him his false demeanor changed to one more serious. He pulled out the items and stared at them intensely.

'_It's time I found out what that was all about back in the city. Also I should drop off this dragonball for safe keeping. If somebody makes another attempt to claim it, they'll have Capsule corporation security, and Vegeta to deal with. Bulma might also be able to examine this knife and find out more about it._'

Gohan blasted off into the sky and flew west over the plains.

**A/N: I know it's been a while, but I've had to do quite a bit and never have time to just write and brainstorm. This story has been coming to mind as I write it. I do have an outline setup for it though, so I shouldn't have too long a break in between updates. Plenty more to come as mysteries are revealed and old characters from Dragonball join the fray.  
**

**Also with the currency. I just use the Yen amount and replace yen with zenni. I'd find it weird to use USA currency in the Dragonball world, so I won't do it.  
**


End file.
